Poisonous bird- Hooded pitohui the only known bird to be toxic,

Poisonous birds! Yes, they exist.

Hooded pitohui the only known bird to be toxic,

Picture courtesy Google images

There are many poisonous insects and reptiles all over the world. But have you ever heard of a bird that can be poisonous? If you ever visit the forests of New Guinea, and you come upon a beautiful orange and black hooded pitohui bird, just enjoy its singing from a distance. Do not attempt to handle it. This bird is better off in the bush than in the hand

The Hooded Pitohui (pronounced pit-o-hooey) is a songbird found in the rain forests of New Guinea, an island which lies in the South Pacific Ocean to the east of Indonesia. There are around six species of Pitohui of which the Hooded Pitohui is the most deadly.

Declared to be the ‘Most Poisonous Bird’ by the Guinness Book of World Records, it was discovered in 1989 by an American biologist Jack Dumbacher who was netting birds in New Guinea.

In 1989, Jack Dumbacher travelled to the Papua New Guinea bush in search of birds of paradise. He strung up a number of delicate nets between the trees, and one day found several colourful songbirds tangled in them. They were hooded pitohuis, little black and orange birds with dark red eyes.While removing hooded pitohuis from collection nets, they scratched his hands and the cuts hurt more than they should have. He put his fingers in his mouth to dull the pain, but that only made his tongue tingle and burn.When he asked the local natives if they had experienced anything similar they replied, ''Stay away from the rubbish bird!'', they are not good for eating.

A neurotoxin called Homobatrachotoxin is found in its skin and feathers. But how did it get there? Studies suggest that the birds do not synthesise the poison. The Hooded Pitohui, like the Poison Dart Frogs of Columbia, gets its poison from the food that it eats- the poisonous Choresine Beetles of the Melyridae family. This beetle is the source of the bird's toxic properties, and is also believed to be the source of the lethal toxins. There are several species of pitohui, with the most poisonous one being the “Hooded Pitohui.” Feeding just a few milligrams of its skin to a mouse will kill it in a few minutes. A scratch or a sharp jab from its beak can make us go numb. If a large amount of this poison goes into our body, it can lead to paralysis and probably death. Feather lice too stay away from the Pitohui as Homobatrachotoxin is the most poisonous of all naturally occurring substances. 

Picture courtesy Google images

It is not advisable to eat these birds, but when food is scarce, the people of New Guinea eat the bird which they term as the ‘Garbage bird’, as it gives a foul odour when cooked. The tribes of New Guinea believe that the Pitohui can be eaten only after a period of mourning for the dead bird. The skin and feathers are removed and the flesh is coated with charcoal and then roasted.

The Hooded Pitohui is also called by some New Guinea native tribes as ‘Wobob’– an itchy, uncomfortable skin disease that a person contracts when he or she comes in contact with the bird.